Amanda Holden is an award-winning money writer, speaker, educator, and... ex-finance bro. You may know her as @dumpster.doggy on the internet, where she can be found dishing out financial literacy education and flaunting her best #trashion outfits (or—if we go with cheese dress, "her outfits made of Kraft singles because she wants you to better your cheddar"). Her business is called Invested Development, where the aim is to make investing education accessible and fun. If you have felt left out of important conversations about money and investing, her work is for you! She has now taught over 20,000 students—mostly women—how to invest. 

Here is a link to Amanda’s Investing 101 Workshop, that she is offering for free to Weird Finance listeners. Make sure to use coupon code WEIRD.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Darren Robinson (@darrenrobinson), guitarist in the band  Phantom Planet. They discuss Darren's journey in the music industry, getting a record deal, working with friends over many decades, his love of cryptocurrency, and navigating investing. Tune in to hear about the challenges and rewards of pursuing art and the intersection of creativity and finance.

Shruti (@shruti_jo) is the Chief Operating Officer of Facet, and is widely recognized for driving efficient, rapid growth at B2C and B2B companies across every stage, from startups to enterprise businesses. A former consumer tech founder and Fortune 15 executive, she has invested and advised many businesses across multiple industries on business strategies to drive client acquisition and retention and develop innovative, end-to-end client experiences. She was an early investor in Facet Wealth and has been an advisor over the last several years. She was formerly an equity partner at Altman Vilandrie & Company (AV&Co.), now Altman Solon, where she built and ran the firm’s Marketing ROI Practice. Before that, she was an executive at Verizon Communications, leading new acquisition growth for consumer FiOS and core network products.

Sarah Faith Gottesdiener (@gottesss) is an artist and business owner living in Los Angeles. She designs books, podcasts, and life curriculums for thousands of people around the planet. Her business, the Moon Studio, brings beauty and transformation into the lives others. She is passionate about art, healing, social justice, and rescue dogs.

Daryl Fairweather (@FairweatherPhD) is the chief economist of Redfin. Her insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, as well as in the New York Times and Washington Post. Prior to joining Redfin, she was a senior economist at Amazon working on problems related to employee engagement and managing a team of analysts. During the housing crisis, Daryl worked as a researcher at the Boston Fed studying why homeowners entered foreclosure. Daryl received her Bachelor's of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received her Ph.D. and Master's degrees in economics at the University of Chicago where she specialized in behavioral economics. Follow Daryl on Twitter @FairweatherPhD.

iO Tillett Wright (@iolovesyou) is an author, screenwriter, producer, and podcast creator. He has been a public speaker, photographer, journalist, artist, curator, and actor.

iO has exhibited and curated artworks in the US, Europe, and Japan. His writing and photos have been published in the NY Times, LA Times, Vogue, T Magazine, Lenny Letter, Interview Magazine, Oyster Magazine, Refinery29, etc. His words have been published by Knopf, Ecco, Editions Du Seuil, Il Saggiatore, Virago, Ecco, Penguin, and Suhrkamp Verlag.

He is the author of Darling Days: A Memoir (Ecco, 2016), host and producer of The Ballad of Billy Balls (Cadence 13, 2019), and Power Trip, (NY Magazine, 2021/2022), creator of the TED talk “50 Shades of Gay,” and founder and photographer behind the Self Evident Truths project. He also made “Self Evident Truths: 10,000 portraits of queer America” (Prestel, 2020), wrote “Oasis: Modern Desert Homes” (2020), and the forthcoming “First Home”, both from Clarkson Potter.

He occasionally sits on rocks holding bottles of cologne and feels like an ass about it.

Braxton Brewington is an organizer and spokesperson for the Debt Collective (@thedebtcollective) —the nation's first union of debtors. Braxton is a North Carolina native and proud graduate of North Carolina A&T State University—the nation's largest HBCU. Braxton has worked on several local and national political campaigns from New Hampshire to Georgia. Most recently, Braxton has been working with the Debt Collective leading the charge to cancel student debt. Currently, Braxton is a Sociology PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill, where he'll be doing research on social movements and the media.

Erin Lowry (@brokemillennialblog) is the author of Broke Millennial, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing, Broke Millennial Talks Money and Broke Millennial Workbook. Her first book was named by MarketWatch as one of the best money books of 2017 and by Business Insider as one of the best personal finance books for 2020. Her second book was named one of the best self-help books for personal finance by VICE in 2022. She’s appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC and The Rachael Ray Show and quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, USA Today, and Bloomberg Opinion. Erin lives in New York City with her husband and their rambunctious dog.

Shaun Evaristo (@shaunevaristo) is a Filipino American dancer and choreographer. He has worked with well-known artists such as Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, Miguel, Tae Yang, and much more. Creator of the dance brand Movement Lifestyle Shaun continues to carve in his craft using movement to access self discovery, creativity and expression. An international instructor for over 20 years, community will always lie at the heart of sharing his passion for dance. 

Erin Levine is a lawyer turned founder of award-winning, venture capital-backed justice tech company, Hello Divorce. Erin is revolutionizing the broken divorce system by combining easy-to-use digital tools with integrated expert advice to make the divorce process more accessible, kinder, and a lot more affordable.

Jay Handy has his MFA from the Lesley College of Art and Design and is an alum of Harvard Business School. He co-founded SignalPoint Asset Management, where he has been a financial advisor and senior portfolio strategist for 15 years and counting. Having personal experience with the power of support for overcoming hardship, Handy has volunteered with organizations to benefit causes such as reducing health and economic barriers to success. Handy was the president of The Odyssey Project and the founder of the Diabetes and Sports Foundation.

Lindsay Bryan-Podvin (@mindmoneybalance) is a biracial financial wellness expert, speaker, and author of "The Financial Anxiety Solution." A practicing social worker since 2012, she uses a shame-free approach to help people get their minds and money in balance by focusing on the intersection of money and mental health using financial therapy. While financial literacy is important, she champions the belief that money is rooted in emotions and impacted by the systems around us. She has a degree in sociology and a Master’s in Social Work with certificates in Financial Social Work and Financial Therapy. She lives with her partner and their dog on the occupied land of the Fox, Peoria, and Potawatomi peoples, also known as Michigan.

Roja Gashtili worked on the Oscar­-nominated, No End in Sight and was an associate producer at MTV. She produced the Refinery29 Shatterbox film, "Jack & Jo Don't Want To Die."

With her filmmaking partner, Julia Lerman, Roja wrote and directed "Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist" at AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Their short, “Pinky,” was a Refinery29 Shatterbox film. They have sold pilots to FX, Amazon and AMC. Recently, they wrote on Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Mr. Corman for Apple TV+.

Pamela Capalad (@brunchandbudget) is a Certified Financial Planner™ and Accredited Financial Counselor™ and has been in financial services since 2008. She founded Brunch & Budget to help people who felt ashamed or embarrassed about money have a safe place to make real financial progress. Pam has been featured in the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, Vice Magazine and was named New York Magazine’s Best financial planner of New York 2019.

Jess Rona (@jessronagrooming) is an actress and comedian that has turned her day job as a dog groomer into a successful and adorable brand called Jess Rona Grooming.

Chantel Chapman (@chantelchapman) is the CEO and co-founder of the Trauma of Money - an accredited course certifying professionals in trauma-aware and trauma-informed approaches to finance. Drawing influence from 14 years of experience as a mortgage broker, 10 years as a financial literacy consultant, and extensive research in addiction, behavioral science, trauma, community economic development, and mindfulness. 

On January 1st, 2021, Vivian Tu created @Your.RichBFF, a passion project to share her knowledge with everyone who hasn’t historically had a seat at the financial table, and posted her first TikTok. 8 hours later, the video had gone viral. Now, merely a year and a half later, the Your Rich BFF community includes over 3 million followers and counting across 7 social platforms. One of Forbes’ Top Creators of 2022, Vivian is regularly featured in the media.

With women, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and low-income people at the forefront of the conversation, Vivian aims to share essential information that allows everyone to master their personal finances, empowering her audience through the power of education. On top of Vivian’s credibility as a former stock trader, she’s approachable and judgment-free. She doesn’t ask followers to skip their avocado toast; instead, she’ll provide them with the tools they never knew they needed.

Susan Abbott Gidel specializes in financial astrological market research and publishing. She also provides astrological consulting to help people achieve financial success in career, business, investments and trading.

After 35 years in the commodity futures business as a journalist and brokerage firm marketing executive, Susan combined that market knowledge with her passion for astrology to specialize in financial astrology.

In 2018, Susan published “Trading In Sync With Commodities—Introducing Astrology To Your Technical Toolbox.” She publishes a newsletter, “Red Letter Trading Days,” that alerts traders and investors to important astrological energy. She is working on a new book about how to use financial astrology in everyday life.

Nikita (@nikitacrump) lived in her Honda civic for 1,000 days as a way to escape paying rent. She began documenting her experience by sharing "a day in the life of being homeless/living in her car” and went viral in the process. She’s now moving out of her car and into a van.

Hannah Rimm (@hannahrimm) is a writer and editor in New York City. Currently, she is Senior Editor at Refinery29, writing and editing lifestyle, wellbeing, and work & money content. She also leads Refinery29’s biggest franchise, Money Diaries. Previously, she worked as a freelance writer, Social Media Copywriter and Producer at WNYC Studios, and as the Marketing Manager at GKIDS, an Academy Award-nominated arthouse distribution company. Beyond R29, Hannah has been featured in Women’s Health, Allure, Bustle, HelloGiggles, Healthline, Autostraddle, and more.

Hannah holds a B.A. in Film and Psychology from Wesleyan University, where she graduated with Honors.

Mistress Marley (@eyesonfire) is a Pro Financial Dominatrix based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the Co-Founder of Whipz Dungeon and the Owner of the Sexcademy, a kink education based platform hosted through Patreon.

Mistress Marley has been featured in the NY Times, Buzzfeed, Paper Mag, Refinery 29, Vice, Business Insider, and a variety of podcasts. Her mission is to help people find success in their kink and BDSM professional careers by teaching marketing, branding, advertising, and other successful strategies.